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Kidnapped
Kidnapped
	Original theatrical poster by Reynold Brown
Directed by	Robert Stevenson
Written by	Robert Stevenson
Based on	Kidnapped; by Robert Louis Stevenson
Produced by	Walt Disney
Starring	Peter Finch; James MacArthur; Bernard Lee
Cinematography	Paul Beeson
Edited by	Gordon Stone
Music by	Cedric Thorpe Davie
Production; company	Walt Disney Productions
Distributed by	Buena Vista Distribution
Release date	February 24, 1960;
Running time	97 minutes
Country	United States
Languages	English, Scots

Kidnapped is a 1960 American adventure drama film. It is based on Robert Louis Stevenson's classic 1886 novel Kidnapped. It stars Peter Finch and James MacArthur, and was Disney's second production based on a novel by Stevenson, the first being Treasure Island. It also marked Peter O'Toole's feature-film debut.

Plot

In 18th-century Scotland, young David Balfour (James MacArthur) takes a letter of introduction from his recently deceased father to the House of Shaws, where he is greeted without much enthusiasm by his miserly uncle Ebenezer (John Laurie). David finds that Ebenezer is disliked by his neighbours and begins to ask questions about family affairs. Ebenezer tries to arrange a fatal accident for David. David accompanies Ebenezer to a meeting with a seafaring associate, Captain Hoseason (Bernard Lee). Hoseason lures David aboard his ship and shanghais him, at Ebenezer's instigation.

At sea, David learns he is to be sold into indentured servitude. A fog comes up and the ship collides with a boat. Alan Breck Stewart (Peter Finch), the only survivor of the boat, is brought aboard and pays for his passage, but the captain plots to kill him for the rest of his money. David warns Alan, and they overcome the crew. Alan coerces Hoseason into putting them ashore. The ship founders, but David manages to reach land.

After several dangerous encounters, he is rescued by Alan, who turns out to be a Jacobite wanted by the authorities. Evading the soldiers, the two make their way back to the House of Shaws, where Alan tricks Ebenezer into admitting his crimes within the hearing of a hidden witness, allowing David to claim his inheritance.

Cast

Peter Finch as Allan Breck Stewart
James MacArthur as David Balfour
Bernard Lee as Captain Hoseason
John Laurie as Ebenezer Balfour
Niall MacGinnis as Mr. Shuan
Finlay Currie as Cluny MacPherson
Miles Malleson as Mr. Rankeillor
Duncan Macrae as The Highlander
Andrew Cruickshank as Colin Campbell
Peter O'Toole as Robin MacGregor
Alex Mackenzie as The Ferryman
Oliver Johnston as Mr. Campbell
Norman Macowan as Tinker
Eileen Way as Jennet Clouston
Edie Martin as the woman on the bridge (from whom Alan Breck buys the pipe and tobacco)
Abe Barker as Donald Dhu MacLaren
Richard Evans (uncredited) as Ransome, the cabin boy

Production

Development

Robert Stevenson was making Disney's Darby O'Gill and the Little People (1959) in England when Walt Disney visited the set and suggested they adapt Robert Louis Stevenson's novel Kidnapped for their next project. Stevenson re-read the novel, was enthused, and wrote a treatment on a working holiday in Scotland. When another project he was working on fell through, Stevenson wrote a screenplay for Kidnapped.^[1] Despite having the same first and last names, and with Disney press materials claiming for years that he was a distant relative of author Robert Louis Stevenson, the director said that they were unrelated.^[2]

Earlier film adaptations of the novel had been produced by Edison Studios in 1917 and by 20th Century Fox in 1938 and in 1948. 20th Century Fox had registered rights to the title but waived them and the film was announced in December 1958.^[3]

Stevenson says Walt Disney was of great use when working on the script. Many people advised Stevenson to put a woman in the story, but Disney resisted, saying it was not true to the novel. By the time filming started, Stevenson estimated he had read the novel "eight to ten times".^[4]

Casting

The lead role was given to James MacArthur, who had just made The Light in the Forest (1958) and Third Man on the Mountain (1959) for Disney and been signed to a two-picture deal with the studio (the second film would be Swiss Family Robinson).

The other lead role was given to Peter Finch who had just appeared in The Nun's Story (1959).

Peter O'Toole was given a small role at the suggestion of Peter Finch.^[1] It was O'Toole's first released film; he would shortly become a sensation of the London stage with his performance in The Long and the Short and the Tall.^[5]

Shooting

Filming started 27 April 1959 on location in Oban in Scotland, with studio work done at Pinewood in London.^[6]^[4]

Stevenson wanted to film the assassination of Colin Roy Campbell in the actual locale, a few miles from Ballachulish, but the original spot was now the site of a forest of Norwegian pines, so he filmed it on the slopes of Ardgour, about twelve miles away.^[1]

Reception

Box office

Kine Weekly called it a "money maker" at the British box office in 1960.^[7]

Critical

Upon the film's original release, New York Times film critic Eugene Archer gave the film a negative review by stating that, "either Mr. Disney, who made a vigorous Treasure Island ten years ago, has lost his touch in the intervening decade, or the kids have been spoiled by Gunsmoke and Peter Gunn. Yesterday's audience was definitely not amused."^[8]

References

^ ^a ^b ^c Arnold, Jeremy. "Kidnapped". Turner Classic Movies.
^ "Kidnapped (1960)". AFI Catalog. American Film Institute. Retrieved 5 April 2022.
^ "FILM EVENTS". Los Angeles Times. 25 December 1958. ProQuest 167354795.
^ ^a ^b S. W. (14 June 1959). "' KIDNAPPED' IN THE HEART OF THE HIGHLANDS". New York Times. ProQuest 114653605.
^ S. W. (24 January 1960). "REPORTS ON BRITAIN'S VARIED MOVIE FRONTS". New York Times. ProQuest 115236724.
^ THOMAS M PRYOR (26 January 1959). "MOVIE TO CO-STAR COWARD, GUINNESS". New York Times. ProQuest 114715321.
^ Billings, Josh (15 December 1960). "It's Britain 1, 2, 3 again in the 1960 box office stakes". Kine Weekly. p. 9.
^ "Screen: A Double Bill: 'Kidnapped' Is Shown With 'Breakout'". The New York Times. 19 May 1960. Retrieved 28 May 2014.